Dec.

2014

Issue 3Page 1
Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

EVALUATION:
Investing Insights brought to you by the students of NYU Stern
LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

INSIDE THE ISSUE

Among the many lessons that weve learned from the aftermath
of the 2008-09 global economic crisis is that governments play a
major role in the financial markets. In the last six years, central
banks around the world have injected massive amounts of capital
in order to support and even inflate financial markets. The U.S.
Federal Reserve has injected $3.6 trillion through three rounds of
quantitative easing since 2008. The Bank of Japan recently shocked
the markets by upping its annual purchases of JGBs from 50 to 80
trillion Yen (from $430 to $680 billion). In total, major central
banks have expanded their balance sheets by approximately $6
trillion1 since 2009.

Steven M. Fulop:
Mayor of Jersey City
Page 2

While a rising tide lifts all boats, the last six years have been a
not so subtle reminder that the moon (or government, extending
the analogy) is a major factor controlling the tide. For the third
issue of EVALUATION we elected to focus on two related areas of
the market that are not commonly a part of the business school
vernacular: Public Finance and Infrastructure Investing. These
areas, located at the intersection of the private and public sectors,
give us some insight into the interplay between investing and
government.
It is our pleasure to introduce the third issue of Sterns studentrun investment newsletter, covering a range of topics in the public
finance and infrastructure investing areas, in addition to some
student-submitted investment ideas. We hope that you enjoy and
take away a few new ideas. Finally, we would like to thank our
interviewees for their time and contributions, as this would not be
possible without their valuable insights. With that, happy reading!
Bryce & Ethan
EV Editors

1. Source: Yardeni Research

Dabo Horsfall: Investment

Officer, African Capital
AlliancePage 6
Aaron Gold: Managing
Director, Argo
Infrastructure
PartnersPage 12
Gerard J. Lian:
Senior Analyst Municipal
Bonds, InvescoPage 16
Stern Winning Team,
Cornell MBA Stock Pitch
ChallengePage 21
Student Investment Ideas:
long PII, long RPXC, long
LVMH, short ATK, and long
Indian RupeePage 22

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 2

Steven M. Fulop Mayor of Jersey City

Mayor Fulop

Steven attended Binghamton University, spent time studying at Oxford University in

England, and graduated in 1999. After starting a career at Goldman Sachs in
Chicago, he transferred back to New Jersey and bought a home in Jersey City. After
the attacks of September 11, 2001, Steve made the life-altering decision to enlist in
the United States Marine Corps. As a member of the 6th Engineer Support Battalion,
he was deployed to Iraq. Steven and his unit were awarded the Overseas Service
Ribbon, Meritorious Masts, and the Presidential Unit Citation. In 2004, Steve came to
the attention of then-Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham, who persuaded and supported
him in a primary run against Democratic Senator Robert Menendez. Although that
campaign was unsuccessful, Steves enthusiasm for the political process led to a run
for City Council in 2005. His upset victory over the incumbent Ward E councilman
made Steven the youngest elected official on the Jersey City council. On May 14th,
2013, Steven won a decisive victory over incumbent Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy.

EVALUATION (EV): Mayor Fulop, thanks for

taking the time to speak to us for our
investing newsletter focused on public
finance. Lets start with your background, as
its very interesting. After college you got a
job at Goldman Sachs. Which group were you
in?
Mayor Steven Fulop (SF): I was hired into asset
management and then gradually moved into algo
trading.
EV: After the September 11th attacks you
made the life-altering decision to join the U.S.
Marine Corps. Was that a difficult decision to
make?
SF: I viewed military service as a partial payment
for citizenship and was thankful that I came from
an immigrant family. Im thankful for a lot of
things that this country has provided, and based
on where I was situated in my life that was the
right decision.
EV: In 2004 you ran for Congress against
Democratic Senator Robert Menendez.
Though unsuccessful, what lessons did you
learn along the way?

SF: That was more of a suicide mission. I wasnt

really registered to vote prior to that. The Mayor
at the time here had a feud with the sitting
congressman and the Mayor was probably using
me more for the fact that I had a background
with no baggage. For me, I thought it was a once
in a lifetime opportunity. I registered to vote
around that election and realized that in this
profession you can actually do some positive
things if youre in it for the right reasons. That
has changed my life.
As far as lessons learned, I think I learned
governmental lessons as well as political lessons.
On the political front: I learned how difficult the
system is structured as it relates to change and
powers of incumbency and how districts are
gerrymandered. As it relates to policy, the more
people you talk to, you start to realize the issues
that confront working families, day in and day
out. I didnt have a perspective on the details of
how people struggle to get by, paycheck to
paycheck, until I was actually a political
candidate.
EV: In 2005 you won an upset victory for
Jersey City council at age 28, making you the
third-youngest councilman in the history of

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Jersey City. Could you briefly tell us about

that experience?
SF: We ran a campaign focused on the Ward.
Hudson County generally is an area where
historically machine politics focused on
patronage and organizational structure, and it
was very hard for an outsider to win. We ran a
campaign that was very focused on targeting
who our voters were, and on messaging, no
different than things you would learn at Stern.
The results were that we squeaked it out. So
that ended up being another positive experience
overall.
EV: During that time you were working and
also going to school you received both an
MBA from NYU Stern and an MPA from
Columbia University. How did you balance all
of that?
SF: No social life is really what it came down to. I
was working; I was finishing at Columbia,
finishing at NYU, and finishing my Reserve duty.
My life was literally so structured. I look at that
time period in my life and I would say that Ive
become very good, as a result of those three or
four years, at time management. Its a byproduct
of having deadlines from four different entities
simultaneously, and each expecting that they
were the top priority. It definitely made me more
efficient when it comes to my time.
EV: And when did you decide that you were
going to run for Mayor of Jersey City?
SF: I started to think about it around the time
that I was considering running for reelection.
There was still work to do on the council front,
which ultimately, I decided to do. Two years
after that I made the decision not to run for
reelection on the council. If I was going to put
another four years into public service I wanted
to be able to set the direction from an executive
side as opposed to from a legislative side. That
really determined that I would run for Mayor.

Page 3

EV: To be exact, you became Mayor of Jersey

City on May 14th, 2013. What is your vision
for Jersey City and how has it evolved over
time?
SF: Were trying to bridge gaps between
communities that have existed for some time.
Were trying to incentivize development away
from the Waterfront. Were trying to lead the
state in job creation. At the same time we
recognize that you can have progressive policies
that are socially conscious and that do not
alienate business. Those two things are not
mutually exclusive. While some political people
would like to portray that if you are fiscally
responsible you cant be socially conscious, the
reality is that they both can exist. Jersey City is a
living, breathing example.
EV: Can you touch a little bit on the budgeting
process?
SF: Normally the way that government entities
work they try to figure out year-to-year how
theyre going to get through a budget, and they
look to the next year the same way. Weve been
working for the last several months on modeling
out the budget several years through the
duration of our term. Weve actually established
a framework thats going one year past our term
for the reason that we want to leave the next
person, whether its me or somebody else, with
some room when they first get in from a budget
standpoint. This is how were going to keep taxes
stable from 2015-2018.
EV: What is your view of the current state of
the infrastructure in Jersey City generally?
SF: We just moved forward with a bond
ordinance of $35 million to do some street
paving and park renovations. Jersey City is an
older city with older infrastructure and its a
challenge to find money in order to continue to
invest in the way that we want to. We try to seek
out public/private partnerships in order to
leverage private capital for these projects.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

EV: Could you give us an example of a

public/private partnership?
SF: Were currently renovating the Loews Jersey
Theater. Were about to start this $40 million
project. In that (project) there are three sources
of funding: tax credits, private dollars, and public
dollars. Theyre all in it because it actually
benefits every building in the area. Theres a
tangible benefit to developers that are building
there. Its the same from our standpoint, thats
why we want to invest public dollars there.
EV: How do you attract that private money
into the city?
SF: We give incentives to people, whether its
abatement programs to incentivize people to
move away from the Waterfront, Redevelopment
Area Bonds (RABs), which are a type of financing
tool, or Density Bonuses. We give incentives in

Page 4

A2 to A1, citing a healthier balance sheet,

improved structural balance, and rising
income levels. What does this mean for your
cost of borrowing as a municipality?
SF: We refinanced $70 million of working bonds
shortly afterwards, saving $2.5 million in future
debt service payments. All of that is a byproduct
of the upgrade variable interest rates on the
upgrade.
EV: Rates are obviously very low. Is this
something you think about in terms of your
financing plan?
SF: I do. I look to leverage low interest rates to
refinance a lot of our debt. The way were
situated today, the way the laws work, there has
to be a certain percentage spread before we can
go back to the market. Our last refinancing was
just closed two weeks ago, so I dont think were

Jersey City is an older city with older infrastructure and its a challenge to find
money in order to continue to invest in the way that we want to. We try to seek out
public/private partnerships in order to leverage private capital for these projects.
order to make sure that theyre investing back in
the community and that the whole city benefits
from it.
EV: Can you talk about a situation where
youre at the negotiating table with some of
these private investors?
SF: Journal Square. Its the first building thats
gone up there in decades. It used to be the heart
of the city. It will be a 70-story building. Theyre
investing in the Loews Theater as well and also
in some infrastructure around the building over
there. That was the better part of the first four
months of our administration, and they broke
ground earlier this year.
On the November 13th, 2014, Moodys
upgraded the credit rating of Jersey City from

able to go out unless theres another drastic

movement in the market. As it relates to
financing projects, we use the markets whenever
possible. Were conscious of the type of debt
were carrying in long term planning, but were
also very conscious of historically low interest
rates.
EV: You have credited your business school
background with giving you an analytical and
business oriented approach to governing
Jersey City. Could you give us an example of
that?
SF: I think who I am today is in no small part due
to growing up in an immigrant family. I had a
Jewish day-school upbringing. I went to public
school. From the Marine Corps to NYU, the City
Council and Goldman Sachs each of those

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

experiences has lent themselves to developing

my decision-making process. I think what I
learned at NYU was a comfort level in the
willingness to take a risk, personal or career risk,
that I may not have been willing to do prior. I
became more willing to take a chance, knowing
that I had developed some tangible skills that
would give me an opportunity to regain my
footing should I ever fall.
EV: Youve worked both in the private sector
and public sector. Do you see yourself staying
in the public sector? What are some of the
pros and cons?
SF: There are a lot of pros and cons to each. I
think sometimes its easier and quicker in the
private sector to get things done. There are often

Page 5

probably continue to do one of those every year.

Next year Ill probably sign up for 10 Tris and
one longer distance race.
EV: In one of your campaign videos for Mayor
you swam across the Hudson River in the
middle of winter. Whose idea was that?
SF: We have a great team of consultants. The
video was produced by Mark Putnam. He does a
lot of stuff nationally. It was a fairly memorable
commercial, right, because its different. It gets
your attention. Its like, why are you swimming
in the Hudson in the middle of February? The
water temperature was 38 degrees. Putnam
actually ended up saying that I shouldnt do it
because he thought I was going to die, but I was
already into the commercial for $70,000, so I was

The best thing I could say is this be willing to take a chance. You dont know where
doors will open and more often than not people are reluctant to walk through them.
layers to bureaucracy in government, which is
challenging and frustrating. Ive had the good
fortune to work with great people in both
sectors. On the public side, often there are
tremendously talented people that arent
appreciated to the degree that they should be.
My career trajectory is hard to tell. If you asked
me 10 years ago if I would have been the Mayor
here I would have told you, no. If you ask me,
10 years from now will I still be in government,
my knee-jerk reaction would probably be,
unlikely. But you never know.
EV: On a personal note, we also understand
that you compete in marathons and longdistance triathlons (including the Ironman
U.S. Championship in 2012). How are you
able to fit the training into your busy
schedule?
SF: Time management. Ill never do an Ironman
again, but last year I did a half Ironman and Ill

doing it. It ended up working out well, thankfully,

but that was quite a day.
EV: Sounds good, anything else to add? Do
you have advice for students coming out of
MBA programs today?
SF: The best thing I could say is this be willing
to take a chance. You dont know where doors
will open and more often than not people are
reluctant to walk through them. Youre building
a skillset at school that should give you some
confidence so that you should be able to fall and
get back up. If youre willing to actually try and
experiment with new things, thats going to hit
and you will find yourself successful at whatever
you choose to do; but more often than not people
dont do that.
EV: Great advice, thanks for taking the time
Mayor Fulop.
**Mayor Fulops campaign video can be seen here:
http://youtu.be/ZTfeTr22_1g

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Dabo Horsfall Investment

Officer, African Capital Alliance

Dabo Horsfall
Dabo Horsfall has over 13 years of global Gas &
Power Infrastructure sector work experience.
Prior to joining African Capital Alliance, he
worked at Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners
(MSIP), a $4 billion global Infrastructure
investment fund, in New York. At MSIP, Dabo was
an investment executive and he actively managed
several energy infrastructure portfolio companies.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he was an
investment banker at Lehman Brothers (later
Barclays Capital), where he focused on Mergers
and Acquisitions advisory. He began his career as
a Chemical Engineer in Texas. Dabo holds a BSc. in
Chemical Engineering from the University of
Texas, Austin, a Masters in Public Administration
from Columbia University and an MBA from New
York University.
EVALUATION (EV): Mr. Horsfall, thanks for
taking the time to sit down with us. You
started out as a Chemical Engineer. How did
you end up in infrastructure investing?
Dabo Horsfall (DH): I was born and raised in
Nigeria and I came to the USA primarily to figure
out how to develop my country and continent.
My dad wanted me to be a civil engineer, but I
had too much love for chemistry, so I became a
chemical engineer. Naturally, I initially focused
my career on the oil and gas space, which is what

Page 6

I grew up knowing as my dad was a mechanical

engineer at Shell in Nigeria.
I started out as a process engineer at Exxon
Mobil and then worked as an engineering
consultant for an energy technology-consulting
firm. When the 1999 2001 technology crisis hit
I became interested in capital markets, and
funding capital projects by extension. I was
amazed at how shocks in the capital markets
affected all the engineering projects I was
working on. I started thinking seriously about
business school, and was excited to gain
admission to the Stern School of Business.
I was lucky to land a job on Wall Street after
Stern, even without having the requisite
background. Frankly, I didnt fully understand
how I was going to navigate my career in a way
to ultimately impact my birth nation. As I took
little bites of the financial sector it became
clearer that I was on the right path and that
African Infrastructure development investing
was my end goal. I started out doing investment
banking general advisory at Lehman Brothers,
and then focused more on M&A in order to build
my transaction experience. I zeroed in on my
focus areas: power, utilities, and infrastructure
within investment banking. As I got good as an
M&A banker, I began building the right skills to
enable a transition to the buy-side.
Eventually, I ended up at Morgan Stanley
Infrastructure Partners (MSIP), where I learned
from some extremely intelligent people and was
fortunate to work for someone who had links to
Africa. The head of my fund at the time was an
Egyptian named Sadek Wahba. He was focused
in OECD markets, but also had a keen eye on
emerging markets. I applied my standard ethos
of hard work and focused dedication at MSIP. I
concentrated on really understanding the
investing trade, and did well to deliver tangible
results while at Morgan Stanley. I was able to
eventually use my MSIP experience to transition
into a proper emerging/frontier markets fund.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Now Im at African Capital Alliance, a PE Fund

focused on West Africa. Im responsible for
power and gas infrastructure investments:
participating in the transformational impact of
these sectors in Africa. There is a huge
infrastructure deficit in Africa. Power is the main
impediment to growth. A lot of the finished
goods in Nigeria, for example, are imported at
high prices (demonstrating the ability of
consumers to pay). However, Labor is very cheap
and Natural Resources are available.
Infrastructure is the plug to make things happen.
So I am happy to catalyze this asset class by
demonstrating the attractive returns that wellstructured investments can produce.

Page 7

There was also a risk angle given that we

served some low-income communities we had to
manage the collection risk and also come up with
several other value-add services that would be
appealing to the community. We also had to
manage the regulatory pressure and not increase
tariffs to a level that creates social imbalance.
Management of public/private-sector issues was
a very good learning experience for me. Also,
learning how to deal with shocks, or the
unexpected events was important. A few
unfortunate events happened during my time
managing that asset, most notably two
earthquakes. You have to be able to think on

There is a huge infrastructure deficit in Africa. Power is the main impediment to

growth. A lot of the finished goods in Nigeria, for example, are imported at high
prices (demonstrating the ability of consumers to pay). However, Labor is very
cheap and Natural Resources are available. Infrastructure is the plug to make
things happen.
EV: You have managed some very large
power deals over the last decade. Could you
speak a bit about your work with Inversiones
Grupo Saesa Ltda., Chiles second-largest
electricity distributor, while you were with
Morgan Stanleys infrastructure fund?
DH: This was probably the most exciting deal
Ive ever worked on. After I joined MSIP, I was
asked to take over management of this asset an
electric distribution company based in Chile. For
me it was fascinating because I felt like if I really
sunk my teeth into the business and understood
how it worked, it would be very applicable
training for whatever I ended up doing in
emerging markets.
Chile is interesting because its sort of that
bridge between emerging markets and
developed markets. The electric distribution
company was based in one of the more rural
parts of Chile, so there was a growth angle to it.

your feet and bounce back from unexpected

events. I was also lucky that this asset was
earmarked for exit during my time as the asset
manager. We were preparing to raise the second
infrastructure fund. To do that we had to show a
track record and SAESA was the chosen asset to
exit. Together with a colleague of mine, we ran
that entire exit process, and it was successful.
During the sale process in 2011 we faced an
unexpected foreign exchange crisis as well, but it
was just the right type of training I needed. You
have to be able to figure out how to right a
wrong situation. I expect to be doing a lot of this
in Africa en route to delivering excellent returns
for investors.
EV: How do you develop an investment thesis
for these types of projects?
DH: The investment thesis for SAESA: there were
several. Firstly, Chile on a more macro level
wasnt an OECD country when MSIP made the
investment. So just from a de-risking/capital

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

flows standpoint, we expected the overall cost of

capital to drop once Chile became an OECD
country. Secondly, in addition to the overall GDP
growth rate of the country (6-7%) due to the
commodity boom, there was also additional
embedded growth within the regions served by
SAESA. Thirdly, there was scope (on the cost
side) for operational improvements.
EV: Youve also been involved with some high
profile gas-distribution infrastructure deals.
Tell us about working on the Madrilena Red
de Gas project in Spain.
DH: Madrilena Red de Gas (MRG) is a gas
distribution utility in Madrid. I was also tasked to
manage this asset. It was a carve-out of an
existing state utility. Frankly, what I really
enjoyed were the relationships that I formed
with executives of the company. Also, I was
exposed to how a country without a very
widespread gas network transports gas within
the country this has been very applicable for
my work in Nigeria. Ill give you an example:
during my time at MRG, I learned a lot about
virtual pipeline networks. This involves
transporting gas despite the absence of
pipelines. You get gas from ports,

Page 8

diesel-based power. This is a business model Im

actually building upon now in Nigeria. My next
deal centers on a captive power solution that
involves gas distribution by virtual pipeline.
EV: How has the infrastructure investing
landscape changed since 2005, when you first
got involved? Where do you find the most
attractive risk-adjusted returns today?
DH: In 2005, infrastructure wasnt sexy. It wasnt
talked about that much. The power sector wasnt
really popular either. There wasnt that much
money chasing infrastructure projects. As a
result, asset prices werent that high. What
youve had between then and now is that
infrastructure just became a buzzword. Pension
funds included it in their lexicon, and it took a
life of its own. More and more money got
dedicated to infrastructure assets and then,
frankly, people who didnt fully understand the
asset class started investing in it, inflating asset
prices, and making some very big mistakes. I
think the market is starting to figure out what
this thing really is right now. In terms of where
you get proper risk adjusted returns today, I
think its in emerging/frontier markets as long as
you back the right partner and right strategy.

In terms of where you get proper risk adjusted returns today, I think its in
emerging/frontier markets as long as you back the right partner and right
strategy. Theres too much money chasing infrastructure assets in developed
markets; everyones looking for the same thing.
compress/liquefy it, put it in trucks, and get it to
wherever you have your gas grid or directly to
the end users. This was critical learning for what
Im starting to do in Nigeria, given that the gas
infrastructure is largely non-existent. Some of
these pipelines take a long time to build and
construction risks are high in Nigeria. However,
given the alternative cost of power, which is
diesel-based, one can actually compress/liquefy
the gas, put it in trucks, transport it, degasify,
and still produce power at a cheaper cost than

Theres too much money chasing infrastructure

assets in developed markets; everyones looking
for the same thing. As a result, its hard to get
bilateral deals done. Deals are usually done by
auction. Its a big cost of capital shootout, making
it really hard to get proper value. Frankly, I think
the regulatory risks are underappreciated in
developed markets. A regulator is going to think
about customers first, wherever you are. Unless
you really have key relationships, you can easily
get caught offside in developed markets.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Whereas, in emerging markets the opportunity is

sort of trapped, theres latent demand for the
asset or for the finished product and theres a
high willingness to pay (given the alternative
cost of delivery). I think its easier for people
with the right skillsets and the right discipline to
actually pick a position, raise capital, and
structure the right deals to get private equity
type returns in emerging/frontier markets.
EV: After Morgan Stanley, you began working
with the African Capital Alliance, a Generalist
PE firm focused on Nigeria and broader West
Africa. Can you speak about the current state
of infrastructure investing in this region?
DH: Basically, infrastructure is largely
nonexistent and decrepit, which I knew before I
left Nigeria. Thus infrastructure investing is
more of a development play, more of a greenfield
play as opposed to a brownfield play. The critical
question is: how do you embark on a greenfield
strategy while ensuring that you get significant
returns? The bigger the greenfield project the
longer it takes to build, for one, and the longer it
takes to recover your money if you sell your end
product through a public grid/network. My
strategy is to work on marginal infrastructure
projects where I can sell directly to credit worthy
end users. I also believe that infrastructure
investing should be done by specialized funds.
EV: Could you speak a bit about the
investment process at ACA? What are a few
things that you tend to focus on when
evaluating opportunities? More specifically,
what are the returns and cost of capital like
on projects in Africa?
DH: The investment process at ACA is
international standard, very rigorous. You go
through an early stage deal review report with
the fund manager in order to get clearance to
spend time on the transaction. Afterwards,
theres an investment forum, which essentially
involves presenting the deal to all the members
of the team, regardless of rank. After that, if

Page 9

everything goes well, it goes to an investment

committee where the investment officer defends
the deal and hopefully gets approval to actually
spend money on due diligence. In terms of
differences in the process between ACA and my
experience in the USA, at ACA theres a lot more
focus on the sponsors the people that you
partner with and less on the analytical rigor.
Theres also a lot of emphasis on the ESG
(environmental, social, and governance) process,
which is driven by development financial
institutions that invest in us. ESG actually helps
the investment process; its important to think
about these things and consider the economic
impact.
As far as cost of capital, it is fairly high for Africa,
around 20-30%, relative to 18-25% for other
emerging markets (i.e. India, Chile) and 10-15%
for developed markets.
EV: Given the extraordinary growth in the
African infrastructure space in recent years,
has competition for lucrative projects
become fierce? Would you say the market is
approaching efficiency?
DH: A lot more money has been directed
towards the emerging markets, primarily driven
by quantitative easing in developed markets, but
were starting from a low base so there still isnt
sufficient capital being allocated to the region.
Global investors who seek yield in different parts
of the world are dipping their toes into
emerging/frontier markets. Id say theres been
more competition, but from my perspective its
good because this creates more awareness and
brings more expertise into the market.
Currently, there seems to be a lot of funds
chasing similar strategies (Generalist, consumeroriented). I believe that there is a need for more
specialized funds and that you will see new fund
managers spin out of existing Generalist funds
with distinct strategies that fit the African
investment opportunity.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

EV: Could you provide an example of a project

youre currently working on at ACA?
DH: I am currently working on building out a
captive power solution to take advantage of fuel
resources that are privileged to different parts of
Africa. Its an idea Ive had since my days at MSIP.
EV: I understand there has been quite a tech
boom in East Africa and this has been the
focus for a lot of IT investment. What are the
big investment opportunities in West Africa,
your region of expertise?
DH: Tech is actually in the front end. A good
thing about not having much existing
infrastructure is that Africa becomes sort of a
guinea pig, a test case for new technology. On
the power side, its easier to come up with a
smart grid solution, for example, if you dont
have an existing grid. Your opportunity cost is
just not high. Same thing with e-commerce: given
the poor road infrastructure, online retail is
booming. People dont want to drive to stores in
Lagos because the traffic is absolutely terrible.
You have many small companies figuring out
unique distribution solutions: small motorbikes,
bicycles etc. All they need to do is get you online.
Smartphones are actually very popular in Africa
right now, so you do the transactions with your
phone, and get the products delivered directly to
you. Technology, and the telecom boom, is
enabling massive transformation. Theres a
leapfrogging effect as well. There were never a
lot of landlines to begin with, so once mobile
telephones became available, people just didnt
need landlines.

Page 10

gets lost through the transmission lines. Its

more efficient to have small micro grids instead.
Have a power plant that utilizes the resources
that are unique to that particular area. You build
up a particular grid that fits the usage pattern of
the specific area as well, and a collection
pattern/methodology that fits the consumers. If
you dont have existing infrastructure you could
put proper collection technology that would be
expensive to retrofit in otherwise. In summary,
the process of building out micro grids as
opposed to massive integrated grids, which are
extremely inefficient, is an example of this
leapfrogging effect.
EV: Finally, what kind of advice would you
offer students who are interested in pursuing
a similar career path?
DH: I would say, be passionate about what you
want to do. Thats been my driving force. Pick a
career that drives you because that keeps you
going when things get rough. It keeps you
grounded, keeps you focused. If infrastructure is
truly your passion, do it. Find your passion and
go after it.
EV: Mr. Horsfall, thanks so much for the time!
We appreciate your insights.

EV: Youve stated that you have a keen

interest in disruptive and leapfrogging
technology, could you elaborate on this?
DH: Ill use the electric grid example again. How
awesome would it be if you didnt need to build
out massive transmission lines, huge coal fired
plants, and huge hydro plants? Frankly, a lot of
that energy gets wasted. You generate a lot, but it
Source: The New Yorker
(by Warren Miller)

Save the Date

14th Annual NYU Stern SIMR Conference

Friday, March 27th, 2015
Henry Kaufman Management Center, 44 West 4th Street, New York, NY 10012

Theme: Investing in a Post-Fed World

Event History
The Stern Investment Management & Research (SIMR) Club conference is one of Sterns
most well-attended and well-known annual conferences and features prominent research
professionals from the buy-side and sell-side, as well as investment professionals and
portfolio managers. Currently in its 14th year, the conference offers the opportunity to hear
from distinguished speakers and panelists on idea generation and best investment ideas in
today's markets. Past years themes have included tax-aware investing, distressed
investment opportunities and event driven investing.
Attendees
Over 150 NYU Stern MBA Students focused on careers in buy-side and sell-side research,
investment and wealth management and sales and trading. There will also be a number of
prominent industry professionals and renowned NYU Stern faculty members.

If you are interested in attending/speaking at the conference, please contact:

Sofia Fernandez sofia.fernandez@stern.nyu.edu
Josh Bronstein joshua.bronstein@stern.nyu.edu
Troy Green troy.green@stern.nyu.edu

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Aaron Gold Managing

Director, Argo Infrastructure
Partners

Aaron Gold

Page 12

oriented investing than I had when I began

infrastructure.
EV: You then joined Highstar Capital
(infrastructure investment fund) in 2001.
What was the state of affairs of infrastructure
investing back then? How does it differ from
the landscape today?
AG: Until about 2007, competitors were funds
with expertise in one or more of the
infrastructure verticals, but not all of them. Fund
investors did not have an infrastructure
allocation in their mandate; they used general
private equity or real estate allocations. Publicprivate partnerships were not part of our
vocabulary.

Mr. Gold has spent the most recent 14 years of his

career in infrastructure-oriented private equity.
Currently, he is a Managing Director at Argo
Infrastructure Partners, a newly formed private
equity manager with an initial mandate to invest
in North American energy infrastructure. Prior to
Argo, Mr. Gold served as a Principal for Carlyle
Infrastructure Partners, The Carlyle Groups
global infrastructure fund, and as a Managing
Director at Highstar Capital. He spent the initial
several years of his career in investment banking
and corporate development positions. Mr. Gold
has an A.B. in Politics from Princeton University
and an M.B.A. from New York University.

Since 2007, substantial competition exists

among independent infrastructure firms, bankor large-cap private equity-sponsored
infrastructure teams and a handful of direct
investing pension managers and sovereign
wealth funds. There is much more capital, now in
the form of equity and debt, allocated to
infrastructure as a strategy, large amounts of
which are either in addition to or in lieu of
investments through a private equity manager.
And, while still a work-in-progress, many publicprivate partnerships have gotten done and are
continuously in the works.

EVALUATION (EV): Mr. Gold, thanks for

taking the time to speak with us. You spent a
few years early in your career as a banker.
How did that experience help prepare you for
a career in infrastructure investing?

EV: While at Highstar you were involved in

the acquisition of P&O Ports, a politically
charged deal involving the purchase of
several major U.S. ports from DP World,
based in Dubai. Could you speak a bit about
your involvement in that deal?

Aaron Gold (AG): As an investment banker, I

worked on buy-outs and financings in various
sectors (though nothing that would qualify as
infrastructure). Bankers with experience in
certain sectors, such as energy/utilities or
transportation/logistics, or product lines, such
as municipal and/or project finance, might have
a more fitting background for infrastructure-

AG: In 2005, DP World agreed to acquire the

Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation
Company, a UK-based operator of ports
worldwide. P&O owned P&O Ports North
America, which operated marine terminals along
the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the U.S. Despite
transaction approval by CFIUS, a U.S. panel that
reviews investments by foreign corporations

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

into businesses with national security

importance, Congress raised concerns of national
security and voted to block the sale of the North
American operations to DP World. In response,
DP World hired an investment bank to sell the
North America business to a U.S.-domiciled
entity. I led Highstars transaction team,
including our advisors, consultants, and lenders,
and negotiated the pricing and terms of an
acquisition of the North American port
operations from DP World.
EV: Generally speaking, how much of a role
does dealing with
government/municipalities play into the
investment thesis of infrastructure deals?
AG: Working in collaboration with municipalities
is critical to the success of many infrastructure
investments. The businesses we pursue provide
an essential service to an economy and, because
of a physical constraint or contractual position,
may be the only provider of a particular service

Page 13

EV: After Highstar you joined Carlyle

Infrastructure Partners, a division of The
Carlyle Group. There you worked on a deal
involving the refinancing of a portfolio of
highway service plazas in the state of
Connecticut. Could you speak about that
deal?
AG: The Connecticut Department of
Transportation granted an investor group led by
Carlyle a 35-year contract to renovate (in some
cases, re-build), operate and maintain 23
highway service plazas along three major
highways. My primary responsibility was
working with our management team and general
contractor to ensure each of the 23 individual
construction projects finished on time and on
budget. The financing required lender comfort
with existing pre-renovation and projected postrenovation cash flow from the service areas, due
to the fact that that a few service areas would be
under construction for 9-12 months at any given
time during the term of the loan. The loan was

Working in collaboration with municipalities is critical to the success of many

infrastructure investments. The businesses we pursue provide an essential
service to an economy and, because of a physical constraint or contractual
position, may be the only provider of a particular service to households in a
region.
to households in a region. Thus, many of the
companies are regulated by a public service
commission that ensures the service provider
earns a fair return for its continued investment
in infrastructure and protects customers from
any unfair increases in their cost of service.
Working collaboratively with customers
representatives at the public service
commissions and informing customers directly
of the benefits of the investment in their
infrastructure is critical to customer satisfaction
and investment success.

structured optimally to provide additional costefficient capital to complete the construction of

the projects.
EV: You are now involved in setting up a new
venture, Argo Infrastructure Partners. What
is the typical lifespan of infrastructure funds,
and how does that correlate with the
duration of infrastructure investments?
AG: Typically, the tenor of the fund itself is
indicative of its strategy. For 10- and 12-year
funds with an approximately five-year
investment horizon, the investment is in growth
and total return projects (with cash yield, if

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

possible); for longer-tenor vehicles, the

investment tends to be more focused on
stabilized infrastructure operations generating
current and sustainable cash yield. Our new
strategy falls into the latter category: we have a
15-year investment horizon that allows us to
invest long-term capital for the growth and
maintenance of long-lived critical infrastructure.
EV: What is a typical return target for an
infrastructure investment? How much
leverage (if any) do you use, and how do the
risk-adjusted returns compare to other asset
classes on a relative basis?
AG: Mandated levered gross return targets range
from approximately 9-15%, depending on the
strategy. On a risk-adjusted basis, infrastructure
can be very attractive if the owner has a wellconceived plan to grow and stabilize an
operation. Strategies vary in their use of
leverage; Ive seen anything from 0% to 75%
leverage. We do not require substantial leverage
to achieve our return targets; in fact, we can
sometimes achieve our return hurdles and
increase our cash yield without leverage.

Page 14

years, terminal value is typically where the art

comes in to determine what value exists between
the end of the contract and the assets end of life.
In determining value and assessing risk, we work
with experts: legal/regulatory, accounting/tax,
environmental, market/commercial,
engineering, operations, insurance and others.
As we uncover information during the due
diligence process, we determine what the
financial or legal liability may be for each and
how we will address them (i.e., adjustment to
financial projections, valuation, and/or purchase
agreement terms). Some risk is completely
unknown, so we also test broad scenarios
through our financial model to determine what
level of volatility we can withstand at various
prices.
EV: Could you give us an example of a deal
that youre working on now for Argo, and
what your investment thesis is?
AG: One opportunity were pursuing is a natural
gas-fired power plant with 10 years remaining
on a contract to sell 100% of the electricity it
produces to a very creditworthy state utility. An

Mandated levered gross return targets range from approximately 9-15%,

depending on the strategy. On a risk-adjusted basis, infrastructure can be very
attractive if the owner has a well-conceived plan to grow and stabilize an
operation.
EV: Could you speak a bit about the valuation
framework for infrastructure deals generally,
as well as the method for assessing and
mitigating risk?
AG: Since most of our companies are not IPO
prospects, we do not typically focus on publicly
traded comparables. However, we look at
comparable precedent transactions, various
asset-specific metrics and discounted cash flow
analysis. Regarding DCF, since we target
operations with contracted revenue for many

operating team is in-place with a strong

environmental, health and safety record and
many years of successful operating experience
with the plant. Subject to generating plant output
within agreed contract parameters set with the
utility, revenue is consistent. If operating
expenses are within range of the past, we would
expect sustainable cash yield throughout the
contract period. Through our due diligence,
weve concluded that substantial demand is
likely to exist for the plants output beyond the
contract period, providing cash yield throughout
the plants life.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

EV: How do you think about portfolio

construction when it comes to infrastructure
investing? What is a good number of
investments and across which verticals?
AG: In light of the size and lower perceived risk
of their investments, infrastructure funds tend to
take more concentrated positions. My focus is on
North America energy infrastructure, so a sectorfocused infrastructure approach that diversifies
with respect to exposure to any single
uncontrollable event/development, if possible.
Consequently, diversifying, among other areas,
based on asset type (includes diversification in
resource/fuel and asset function, whether
power, transmission, distribution, etc.) and
geography (includes diversification in customer
demographics, contract counterparty, and
regulatory jurisdictions) is a consideration with
regard to our investment portfolio.
EV: Finally, what advice do you have for
students looking to get into this type of work?
Are there particular classes that you took, or
books that you read, that have been helpful?
AG: Fund managers hiring students from
business school typically seek to select someone
they believe will grow with the firm. Unless there
is a departure, firms typically hire when they
have visibility on a successful fundraise and
identify a resource need. Candidates should be
patient develop a dialogue with various firms,
so they are on the list of potential candidates.
I typically look for people with corporate finance
experience and/or sector-specific operating,
project development and/or engineering
experience. Resources do not exist to provide
formal training, so we need our hires to be able
to hit-the-ground running. If an experienced
operator is interested in transitioning from
operations to an investing role, s/he should take
at least one accounting class and one corporate
finance class, so s/he is familiar with the various
concepts and terminology that arise in day-today investment work.

Page 15

EV: Good to know, thanks for taking the time

Mr. Gold!

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Professor Gerard J. Lian

Senior Analyst - Municipal
Bonds, Invesco

Gerard J. Lian
Gerard J. Lian entered the municipal bond
profession in 1982 as an Associate Attorney
with Wood & Dawson, a municipal bond law
firm. He then decided to enter the financial
side of the business by taking a position as
Senior Municipal Bond Analyst with American
Express, and later, became an Executive
Director at Morgan Stanley Investment
Management. In 2010, Mr. Lian joined Invesco
where he presently works as Senior Analyst.
He has served as an Adjunct Faculty member
at the New York University MPA Program at
Wagner School since 2009. Mr. Lian is a
graduate cum laude of Drew University, holds
a J.D. degree from Rutgers Law School,
Camden, N.J. and a M.P.A. degree from the New
York University Robert Wagner School of
Public Service.
EVALUATION (EV): Professor Lian, to get us
started, would you mind talking a bit about
your Topics in Municipal Finance course at
NYU Wagner? What are the major themes
from that class?
Gerard Lian (GL): This is a team-taught course
that Professor Jerrold Abrahams and I have been
teaching for the past six years. The course is

Page 16

designed to equip graduate students with an indepth understanding of the municipal bond
market, combined with a practical
understanding of credit analysis. We try to
capture the excitement and real world relevance
of municipal finance by approaching this
discipline from multiple perspectives. We do
most of the lecturing ourselves but also rely on
prominent guest lecturers to address specialized
subject matter. In general, were striving to blend
theory and practice. For example, we cover a
wide-range of timely issues in municipal finance
that have important public policy significance (ex.
public sector pensions and health care costs). We
also cover project finance (one of our lectures
deals with projects in New York City including
the Hudson Rail Yards and the World Trade
Center rebuild) and public/private partnerships.
There is a heavy emphasis on credit analysis
throughout. Other topics covered include the
fundamentals of municipal bonds and a history
of the growth of U.S. public infrastructure, a
favorite topic of mine; also an overview of
municipal tax credits, municipal derivatives and
alternative energy covered by Professor Jerrold
Abrahams.
EV: Getting to your background, you started
out as an attorney in municipal finance, but
shortly thereafter got into the financial side
at American Express what originally
attracted you to this business?
GL: There were two factors responsible for the
cross over to municipal finance. First, as an
undergraduate at Drew University, Dr. Robert
Smith encouraged Political Science majors
interested in municipal finance to pursue a
combined degree in law and public
administration. So I had a pre-conceived plan to
acquire an MPA degree in Finance even before I
entered law school. Secondly, as a practicing
municipal bond attorney, you quickly recognize
that the catalyst for municipal project
development really resides on the financial side.
Thats what is driving the bus. This made

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

pursuing an MPA degree in finance at NYU even

more alluring.
EV: By the time you joined Dean Witter
InterCapital (now Morgan Stanley) you were
already a fairly seasoned analyst. What were
some of the skills you focused on in the early
years to develop a specialized expertise in
analyzing municipal debt?
GL: I had the good fortune to be working as a
municipal bond analyst at American Express
after I left the Bond counsel firm. From 19841991, I was working as an analyst at AMEX and
at night pursuing an MPA degree at NYU Wagner
School. I had the benefits of both theory
(acquired at school) and practice (on the job at
AMEX). I would say there are five or six skill sets
you want to develop in order to become a
municipal bond analyst. The first is a strong
understanding of Fund Accounting. This is a
special category of GAAP accounting overseen by
GASB. The second is a good grasp of Basic
Finance. Im talking about the simple stuff
present/future value, discounted cash flow
analysis, annuities, and internal rate of return.
You also want to get well acquainted with
Financial Statement Analysis. A good crosscheck
is to get the reading list of books from the
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute. The
other three skill sets are: Financial Modeling
which was extremely beneficial when I was
starting out, and is absolutely indispensible now.
Then, if youre going down the path of municipal
credit analysis you really need to get informed
about Sector-Specific Analytical Credit Criteria,
which are publications from the rating agencies
that detail the various municipal bond types.
Finally, theres no substitute for getting practice
reading Official Statements and other disclosure
documents to be able to quickly extract the
information you need.
EV: Could you speak about what you look for
when youre assessing the credit of
municipalities? What are some of the more
common risks you look out for?

Page 17

GL: Let me begin by first discussing the factors

that I look at. When you talk about municipal
bonds, theres a great divide: on the one hand
you have tax-supported debt, primarily
comprised of General Obligation (GO) Bonds; on
the other hand you have enterprise debt
consisting of Revenue Bonds. Each category calls
for a different approach and there are different
factors youll need to analyze.
With respect to tax-supported debt (GO Bonds),
there are four categories of information youll
want to key in on. The first is the Scope of the
Legal Pledge: what exactly is being promised to
secure payment of the bond? As an example, this
pledge recently came under intense scrutiny
with respect to the City of Detroit. The
Bankruptcy court drew a fine line between an
unlimited pledge of the taxing power and a
limited pledge. If youre given a limited taxing
pledge you could be subordinated to the GO
Bondholder with a credit unlimited tax pledge.
Kroll Rating Agency put out a report stating that
not all GO bonds are created equal, and this is
entirely true, you have to discriminate. Theres
actually a third category that Detroit uncovered.
Thats where theres a dedicated revenue source
that is sometimes combined with a GO pledge.
That can be construed to create a lien on a
revenue stream. If a lien is created, youre
elevated to a secured creditor status under
Chapter 9, so thats another thing to look at.
Thats the first category, and then there are three
other analytical categories. With GOs youre
always looking at the Economic Base. You want
to have a good grasp of the whole demographic
complexion of the area thats being financed.
There, in the unbundled economic base, youre
looking at things like population growth,
employment rates, income levels both per
capita and median levels education levels, and
property values. Next, consider the Fiscal
Capacity of the issuer. You want to identify the
breadth and depth of taxes and other financial
resources that are available to pay debt service.
Sometimes you have, in addition to a property
tax, a sales tax, an income tax and other

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

governmental revenues. When youre talking

about local GOs youre really talking, primarily,
about ad valorem taxes, unless youre talking
about bigger cities like New York, Chicago, or
Philadelphia. There you will also get sales tax
revenues and income tax revenues. Finally, the
last category would be Key Financial Metrics.
These are ratios that analysts drill down on.
Examples include Net Direct Debt per Capita, Net
Direct Debt to Full Value, General Fund Surplus
Balance, and the Percent GF Surplus Balance to
GF Expenditures. Finally, you have to take a
careful look at the unfunded pension liabilities
and other post-employment benefit (OPEB)
costs.
With respect to Revenue Bonds, there are
numerous categories, each of which carries a
distinct set of analytical criteria. To cite a few
examples, there are Public Power Bonds, Airport
Bonds, Hospital Bonds, Toll Road Bonds, Single
and Multifamily Housing Bonds, Higher
Education Bonds and Resource Recovery Bonds.
A common characteristic of all Revenue Bonds is
that the basic pledge that secures payment of
debt service is the revenue stream enjoyed by
the underlying enterprise project. The revenue
stream consists of user fees charged to
individuals and businesses that consume the
public service being rendered. At its core, credit
analysis centers upon a rigorous consideration of
the reliability and adequacy of the earning
capacity of the enterprise project relative to
expenses over the maturity of the bonds being
offered.
Financial metrics used to analyze Revenue Bonds
include: the ratio of net available revenue to
annual accruing debt service known as the debt
service coverage ratio; the ratio of net available
revenue to maximum future annual debt service
known as MADs coverage; liquidity measures
that include current ratio and days cash on hand;
and a balance sheet measure that depicts the
ratio of long-term debt to total capital.

Page 18

EV: Could you give us an example of a deal

you looked at where the risks turned out to
be greater than originally underwritten or
assessed?
GL: A really good category for discussing a
declining credit is the whole category of Tobacco
Securitization Bonds. Tobacco securitized bonds
represent a multi-billion dollar sector of the
municipal bond market that was originally rated
investment grade. We made a calculated bet: we
did get involved starting sometime around 2004,
after litigation risk subsided, knowing that there
was a declining revenue stream that was
dependent upon the level of Master Settlement
Agreement (MSA) payments from Tobacco firms.
These payments hinged on the level of cigarette
consumption in the U.S. It didnt take a rocket
scientist to determine, and no one disagreed,
that smoking was diminishing over time. There
was a pool of revenues captured from all 46
participating states, and each state earned a prorata share of that pool. States that wanted to
monetize that revenue stream would step into
the marketplace.
A critical variable that determined how that
sector would perform, however, was the rate of
consumption decline. The way the original deals
were structured, there was an assumption that
smoking levels in the U.S. would decline at an
annual rate of about 1.8% per year. We didnt
believe it would stay this low. We did think there
was a window of opportunity because smoking
wasnt going to terminate overnight. For an
intermediate term play you could purchase these
bonds, earn an attractive spread against the
index, and still walk away pretty much
unharmed if you disciplined yourself in two
ways: first, you underweighted the index and
didnt go into this sector too aggressively;
secondly, that you limited your duration and
didnt go out to the longest end of the maturity
range. Thats pretty much how we played that
sector and we were able to sort of time the
market pretty well. There has been erosion in
demand brought about by smoking bans and

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

workplace restrictions that limited where you

could smoke, and this became increasingly
regulated. U.S. cigarette shipments fell 9% in
2009 and 6.4% in 2010; declines that vastly
exceeded the expected 1.8%. As a consequence,
most of this sector, which had been rated
investment grade, was slowly but surely
downgraded to below investment grade, where
it remains now.
EV: Could you walk us through a high profile
Public Power Bond or Project Finance deal
that you worked on while at Morgan Stanley
(that went really well)? What was your
investment thesis and how did things play
out?
GL: As a general rule, most municipal bonds
perform well due to the lower incidence of
default risk that characterizes the municipal
market but certain sectors tend to outperform. I
would note that the lessons learned from recent
Chapter 9 filings, particularly with Detroit and to
a lesser extent with Stockton, is that the entire
category of special revenue bonds fares a lot

Page 19

EV: With several troubled municipalities

around the country, where do you think some
of the most attractive investments are today?
Is there currently strong demand for riskier
or high yield municipal offerings?
GL: There is a case-by-case kind of approach to
this. Let me just start off by saying that the
demand for high yield paper is a strong
characteristic of all fixed income markets and
that the municipal market is certainly no
exception. For the past several months municipal
bonds as an asset class have had stellar
performance. Investment in high yield muni
paper makes sense if certain conditions exist.
First, through experience and informed analysis,
sector bets are strategically weighted to
minimize unacceptable risk and maximize safer
opportunities. Secondly, you need to deploy
credit research to meaningfully differentiate
acceptable credits within these favored sectors.
The third thing is that you want to observe
appropriate restrictions to promote
diversification and limit exposure to any one
name. Finally, you want to be earning a sufficient

The lessons learned from recent Chapter 9 filings, particularly with Detroit and to a
lesser extent with Stockton, is that the entire category of special revenue bonds
fares a lot better in Chapter 9 than GO bonds that may not be construed to confer
secured creditor status.
better in Chapter 9 than GO bonds that may not
be construed to confer secured creditor status.
Informed investors, in terms of their investment
strategy, really place a lot of emphasis on
investing in essential service bonds, such as
public power, water and sewer, and toll roads
that collect user fees. There is a special purpose
entity that is set up to charge user fees to recover
the cost of providing that service. Those essential
services are often utilities that are granted an
exclusive service franchise, coupled with the
right to recover costs free from rate regulation.
Consequently, these bonds tend to perform well
under all economic cycles.

spread as compensation for increased risk. In

adhering to this approach, sectors that Im aware
of that have been really value-oriented over the
past five years or so are: CCRCs (Continuing Care
Retirement Communities), hospitals, tax-exempt
Corporate IDBs (Industrial Development
Bonds)/PCR (Pollution Control Revenue) bonds
and Project Finance.
EV: What about the risk-adjusted returns
comparable to other asset classes?
GL: A good barometer of risk-adjusted, if youre
crossing from one market to another (i.e. tax-

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

exempt market to the taxable market), is the

ratio of muni yield to treasury yield. Any time
that the tax-exempt yield is equal to or even in
certain instances exceeds the treasury yield,
youre earning a premium. When this ratio is
high, munis, categorically, are attractive. It holds
for both high-grade and high-yield paper that on
a risk-adjusted basis the incidence of default on
the municipal side is dramatically lower than on
the corporate side.
EV: Ive read that New York Citys
Comptroller Scott Stringer is pushing to make
NYC the nations first major city to issue
municipal bonds dedicated to financing
environmentally friendly projects. Is this a
trend we should expect to see over the next
few years, especially with all of the postHurricane Sandy construction?
GL: Its a really worthwhile idea that merits
exploring. A lot will hinge on carving out a
reliable revenue stream to comfort investors that
debt service will be paid. Theres room for some
creative financing I suspect. With some sort of a
cross-subsidy provided this could be worked
into a financeable program.

Page 20

job creation. I think that theres an incidental

benefit of public infrastructure in that it will lead
to job growth because youre promoting
economic growth both for the public and private
sector. Too often, when we think about public
infrastructure, were thinking about things that
just benefit the public citizenry without realizing
that it nourishes the economy as well. The whole
network of highways that were built for this
country and the railroads were often times
subsidized at the state/local level by tax-exempt
financing. Theres a common reciprocal benefit
that needs to be more explicitly recognized.
There will be more attention paid to it and
people will be more supportive as a result. Thats
where Im headed in my research.
EV: Is there anything else important that we
havent touched on that youd like to add?
GL: I would just offer up that municipal finance is
on the cusp of entering a growth cycle. I think
theres been a lot of deferred infrastructure
investment that needs to be addressed. In the
relatively short-term space of maybe 2-3 years, I
think theres going to be resurgence in volume.
There will be new and creative ways to approach

Any time that the tax-exempt yield is equal to or even in certain instances
exceeds the treasury yield, youre earning a premium. When this ratio is high,
munis, categorically, are attractive.
EV: What type of research are you currently
working on, if any?
GL: What I am researching now is the
importance of public infrastructure to economic
growth. Im studying that relationship a little
more systematically. In my present-day course I
kind of trace the history of some large
infrastructure projects in the United States, the
Erie Canal and the Brooklyn Bridge, for example.
I think theres also a need to draw a relationship
between investment in public infrastructure and

infrastructure financing that will benefit the

public and private sector. I think theres going to
be a greater use of public/private partnerships
that are properly structured: where you do still
harness the advantage of tax-exempt financing,
and dont rely on taxable financing as the first
generation of public/private financing.
EV: Thanks for sitting down with us. We
appreciate your detailed insights!

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 21

NYU Stern Students Win 2014 Cornell MBA Stock Pitch

Challenge
EVALUATION would like to congratulate Owen
Gilmore, Ziv Israel and Jerry Jiang for winning first
place at Cornell's MBA Stock Pitch Challenge! On
November 6-7th they spent two days at Cornell
researching stocks, assembling presentations, and
making their pitches as part of the MBA regional
competition. They presented in front of a panel of
judges that included investment professionals from
Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, American
Century, and State Street. The students were judged
on a number of factors including overall quality of
pitch, choice of stock and investment process,
presentation skills, and Q&A quality.
Their picks included the following:
Above from left: Owen Gilmore, Ziv Israel, and

Long Tiffany & Co. (TIF) Owen Gilmore

Jerry Jiang
Thesis: Tiffany's will benefit from growth in AsiaPacific, further improvement of gross margins, and will remain a leader in jewelry product innovation,
leading to strong pricing power for the brand.
Long LKQ Corp. (LKQ) Ziv Israel
Thesis: LKQ, a replacement car parts manufacturer, has a strong position in the U.S. market and is
experiencing rapid growth in Europe. This, combined with its technological and systematical competitive
advantages, solidifies the quality of the business. The overreaction of the market to higher short-term
costs provides an attractive opportunity for a long-term investor.
Long NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) Jerry Jiang
Thesis: NXP will benefit from the smart banking card migration in the U.S. and China and the adoption of
NFC technology in contact-less payment applications. In the long term, NXP is well positioned for the
Internet of Things due to its strong expertise in security, connectivity and sensors.
The students faced competing teams from Carnegie-Mellons Tepper School of Business, Columbia
Universitys Graduate School of Business, Cornell Universitys Johnson School of Business, Dartmouths
Tuck School of Business, Dukes Fuqua School of Business, Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of
Business, UCLAs Anderson School of Management, UC Berkeleys Haas School of Business, the University
of Chicagos Booth School of Business, UNC Chapel Hills Kenan-Flagler Business School and the Wharton
School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Students contact info:
Owen Gilmore owen.gilmore@stern.nyu.edu
Ziv Israel ziv.israel@stern.nyu
Jerry Jiang jerry.jiang@stern.nyu.edu

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 22

Student Investment Write Ups

Prior to attending Stern, Dan worked as an equity analyst at Hamlin Capital
Management, a long-only investment advisory firm with $3 billion in assets under
management. Dan currently covers consumer stocks as an intern for a $12 billion large
cap growth fund at UBS Global Asset Management. During his first year of business
school, Dan covered consumer stocks as an intern at Balyasny Asset Management, a $4
billion multi-strategy hedge fund. Dan has passed all three levels of the CFA program.
Dan graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in economics and biology. He can be
reached at daniel.reagan@stern.nyu.edu.
Dan Reagan

BUY Polaris Industries (PII) High quality growth at a reasonable price

Current Price / Mkt Cap (12/17/14): $142 / $9.5B
Price Target: $193
Potential Upside: 38%
Time Horizon: 1 year
Primary Valuation: DCF using a 10% WACC and 3% terminal growth rate
Summary: Polaris has sustainable competitive advantages that will allow it to generate excess returns
with a larger magnitude and longer duration than the market expects.
Business Description:
Polaris (PII) is a $9.5B designer, tester, and assembler of powersports vehicles including ATVs, side-bysides, snowmobiles, and motorcycles. The company is the #1 North American powersports company with
23% share, and it has doubled its market share over the last seven years. PII has a 10-year sales CAGR of
9.7% and a 5-year sales CAGR of 23.3%, due to growth in the side-by-side market (which Polaris
dominates) and share gains in ATVs, side-by-sides, and motorcycles. By raising average selling prices and
focusing on LEAN manufacturing, PII has gradually improved its cycle-on-cycle EBIT margins. The
companys EBIT margin is currently 15.7%, up from 10.5% five years ago.
Total Addressable Market:
Worldwide powersports unit sales peaked at 2.2M in 2005, dropped to 1.1M in 2010, and rebounded
slightly to 1.3M in 2014. If powersports units take 10 years to get back to 2005 levels, units could grow at
a 5.4% CAGR over the next 10 years. ATV and motorcycle unit sales correlate with housing starts, which
have yet to fully recover from the recession.
Competitive Advantages:
Return on invested capital is currently 40.5%, and the companys many competitive advantages allow it
to consistently generate high ROIC throughout the cycle. As the largest player in the industry, Polaris
benefits from economies of scale in marketing, production, and distribution. Customers have brand
loyalty and make repeat purchases, which is evidenced by net promoter scores of 80 across all of their
products (over 50 is considered very high) and the fact that PIIs new customers are 6-7x more expensive
to acquire than their existing customers. 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a better
experience. Having captive customers gives Polaris pricing power that allows them to raise prices by 12% annually and add features so that mix adds 3-5% to revenue growth.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 23

Opportunity:
Motorcycles are underearning: Motorcycles (8% of 2014 sales) are currently losing money because the
company has been investing in sales, marketing, and new capacity (which isn't at scale yet). All the
capacity additions are now complete except for a new paint facility at Spirit Lake, IA. The company says
that motorcycles will breakeven in 2015 and that motorcycle EBIT margins can move to the company
average over time. If that is true, I think motorcycles could drive 160bps of company-level EBIT margin
expansion by 2017. I collected all of the sell-side models and none of the sell-side analysts attempt to
model margins by product. Many buy-side analysts use sell-side models, and they may not be
incorporating motorcycle margin expansion into their valuations.
New Product: Polaris is now shipping Slingshot, a new three-wheeled motorcycle, to 350 dealers in the
U.S. My calls with dealers suggest that pre-orders for the Slingshot have been so strong that Polaris
doesn't have enough product to ship. The company expects to do $300-500M in annual Slingshot sales by
2017-2019, and I expect them to beat that goal. I was at the International Motorcycle Show in NYC on
Dec. 13-14th, and everyone there loved the product. I expect Polaris to announce an automatic version of
Slingshot by 2016.
International expansion: The company plans to get 33% of sales from outside the U.S. and Canada in
2020 (up from 16% in 2013). Currently, products are assembled in the U.S. and shipped to Europe. A new
Poland factory is starting production now and will save $20M/year in shipping costs. A new India factory
starts production in 2Q15.
Underlevered: Polaris has significant debt capacity, and I expect the company to use debt to finance
future bolt-on acquisitions. The companys 1% net debt-to-capital ratio should move toward 10% over
time, which would reduce WACC and create significant shareholder value.
Management: The companys 40.5% ROIC is evidence that management has been a great steward of
capital. The team is willing to admit mistakes, which is very rare. Management exited the personal
watercraft business in 2004 after intense competition from BRP (Sea-Doo).
Thesis:
Polaris (PII) is a high-quality growth stock trading at an attractive price. I expect Slingshot to do $500M
in sales in 2018, and I expect Polariss other motorcycle brands (Indian and Victory) to take an additional
5% of the 1400+ cc heavyweight motorcycle market away from Harley by 2017. I expect new products
and higher margin side-by-side vehicles to drive mid- to high-teens sales growth for the next five years. I
expect EBIT to grow at a 5-year CAGR of 19.5% driven by motorcycle margin expansion, modest
operating leverage, and mix shift toward side-by-side vehicles.
Price Target:
My price target of $193 is based on a DCF valuation using a 5-year EBIT CAGR of 19.5%, WACC of 10%,
and a 3% terminal growth rate. PII trades at 10.3x 2016 EV/EBIT, roughly in-line with powersports peers
(Harley, BRP, and Arctic Cat), but it is a better company with higher growth, higher ROIC, higher EBIT
margins, and lower operating leverage.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 24

Billy Duberstein is a first-year MBA student at NYU Stern. Prior to Stern, Billy was a
filmmaker, political researcher, and this past summer was an equity research intern at
Resolve Capital in Los Angeles, a thematic long-short fund specializing in sustainable
investing. He also co-manages his familys investment portfolio across equity, real estate,
private equity, and other alternative asset classes. Billy has a B.A. in Music with a minor in
English from University of Virginia. He can be reached at wzd201@stern.nyu.edu.
Siddharth Dandekar is a first-year MBA student at NYU Stern. Prior to Stern, Sid was an
emerging markets investment banker, assisting large Indian corporates in raising debt
capital. He has completed all three levels of the CFA examination and also manages his
familys investment portfolio across equity, debt, real estate and other alternative asset
classes. Sid has a M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and a Bachelors in
Computer Science from the University of Mumbai, India. He can be reached at
dds374@stern.nyu.edu.

BUY RPX Corp. (RPXC) Misunderstood growth story at a reasonable price

Current Price / Mkt Cap (12/12/14): $13.00 / $700M
Price Target: $19.50
Potential Upside: ~50%
Time Horizon: 2 years
Primary Valuation: Discounted Cash Flow, 2015 P/adj. FCF
Summary: RPX is doing business in a way that has never been done before, which seems to have scared
investors off the scent; however, these fears are overblown and RPXs 2-sided network model is
beginning to achieve a virtuous network effect that should allow it to increase prices in the future.
Moreover, the company is unveiling a new type of insurance product that has big potential, which the
market seems to be completely ignoring. Downside is limited, as RPX is a subscription business with 3year contracts, over 90% retention, nearly half the companys market cap is in cash, and at a 17.1x
trailing P/E and 15.4x forward P/E (per our estimates of 2014Q4 earnings), the most pessimistic
scenario is likely baked in. We believe RPX currently trades at a valuation more appropriate for a mature,
low-growth company. This is due to a number of fears, which include: 1) the size/volatility risk of being a
small-cap with a new business model; 2) slowing revenue growth; 3) broader risks to RPXs business due
to fear of patent reform. We will seek to dispel these concerns and also show why there is potential
revenue growth re-acceleration in the cards.
Company Overview: RPX collects subscription revenue from clients, then goes out into the patent
market and buys up potentially threatening patents before they can be sold to an NPE (Non-Practicing
Entity or Patent Trolls). Essentially RPX is pooling resources of major tech companies to gain
leverage on the patent trolls. RPX was founded in 2008 by John Amster, previously VP of Strategic
Acquisitions at Intellectual Ventures, as a market-based solution to the growing problem of NPE
litigation. RPX was funded by Kleiner Perkins and other heavy-hitters in Silicon Valley and counts the
most powerful tech companies in the world as its clients (Google, Microsoft, etc.). RPX is also launching a
new insurance product for patent risk, expanding its TAM, and also does higher-value, ad-hoc deals for

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 25

clients. Last year, tech companies spent almost $13 billion on patent litigation, almost half of which were
legal costs that RPX believes it can take out of this inefficient system. RPXs year-end revenues are
projected to be about $260 million with net income of roughly $42 million. RPXs current average useful
life for its patent portfolio is roughly 47 months, or about four years.
Thesis #1: Size / Age Risk is unwarranted due to subscription model and cash hoard. RPX IPOd in
2011 and is the only business really doing what they do (which we view as a positive). Their business
runs on 3-year subscriptions and RPX has demonstrated a retention rate over 90% while steadily
increasing the number of subscribers every year. This, to us, means RPXs value is being demonstrated to
customers and that there is little risk of large drops in revenue, especially as RPX grows and diversifies its
customer base into different tech verticals. Moreover, RPX has over $300M in cash and no debt (on a
market cap of $708M). While RPX is aiming for just $135M in patent spend this year, the company is
justifying its cash hoard as an advertisement to patent owners that they are open for business and also
perhaps to make large-impact deals to increase their rate card (more on that later).
Thesis #2: Fears of slowing / maturation overblown. RPXs growth has decelerated this year to
roughly 10% as opposed to 28% and 20% in 2012 and 2013 respectively; however, the lull this year is
largely due to a particular group of client companies in the mobile sector experiencing decreased
profitability and M&A. Many of these companies contracts were up for renewal at once and their
subscription fees went down, as RPXs fees are tied either to revenue or profitability of the client
company. This caused the first ever decrease in sequential subscription revenue in Q3 2014, however this
is largely behind the company. RPXs total number of clients has steadily increased to roughly 190 since
inception (RPX estimates that the total universe of companies that may be appropriate for core
subscriptions is roughly 500). Unless you believe the overall profitability of the entire tech sector will
decrease in the future, theres no reason to worry. Facebook didnt exist 10 years ago and the number of
patents issued in the U.S. has doubled in the last 10 years. Current consensus is also completely ignoring
the potential of the new insurance product, which only this year was granted Lloyds A-rated coverholder status, and RPX has yet to scale this new product (it has under 50 insurance clients currently,
though it could be thousands). Moreover, management has intimated that a core subscription price
increase is likely.
Thesis #3: Patent legislation that would fix the NPE problem is unlikely. The likelihood of
significant patent reform severely curtailing the NPE business is low. Patent suits are down ~20% this
year, yet this is still equivalent to 2012 levels, which were up significantly from the mid-2000s, when RPX
was launched. Moreover, management believes that recent rulings against low-quality software patents
affects less than 3% of all the suits in which RPX is involved. In speaking with an experienced patent
lawyer who writes a well-followed blog on patent reform, he said that NPEs are sophisticated players, it
is still a high-margin business, and NPEs should be a viable threat to tech companies going forward.
Moreover, it is difficult to legislate in a way that would curtail NPE litigation without damaging the
legitimate patent rights, which are the bedrock of U.S. law. Finally, there are well-funded players on the
other side of the argument (pharmaceutical industry, universities) and patent reform is unlikely to draw
a lot of voters. If there are two things Republicans like, they are 1) not passing legislation and 2) marketbased solutions (like RPX).
Valuation: In our DCF model, we assume decelerating growth through 2020, 2% terminal growth and a
WACC of 10.32% (includes 100 bps illiquidity premium). We estimate RPX to sign up two fewer clients
annually going forward (vs. 19 this year), average subscription fee to decrease by 1% every year (due to

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 26

new clients being smaller than current clients, but also conservative, given likely rate hike), and only $3M
incremental annual revenue from new insurance clients. Significantly, we also did not add back stockbased compensation to cash flows (which would have added another $3.88/share to our price target) as
we believe this to be an ongoing expense. Consequently, our DCF fair value estimate of $19.49 is 50%
above the current price of $13.01. Applying RPXs current P/FCF (adj. for stock-based comp) multiple of
18x (which is well below the 27x FCF multiple enjoyed by its patent & technology licensing peers) to our
2015E adj. FCF, we get a price of $17.50 (35% upside). While our base case price target implies a LTM
P/E of 23.6x, assuming flat revenue and decreasing operating margins, and applying the current 15.4x
forward P/E multiple to our 2015E EPS, gives us a bear case valuation of $11.19 (14% downside).
DCF
For the Fiscal Period Ending
Currency
Revenue
EBITDA
EBITDA margin %
EBIT
EBIT * (1-t)
Plus: D&A
Plus: Other Non-cash items
Less: Increase / Decrease in NCA
Less: Capital Expenditure
FCFF
FCFF % of sales
FCFF-share based expense

DCF Valuation
Weighted average cost of capital:
Net present value of free cash flow
Term inal grow th rate
Term inal value
Present value of the terminal value

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

259.9
187.2
72.0%
72.0
45.4
118.4
14.5
(13.2)
137.0
54.4
21%
39.9

283.5
204.2
72.0%
75.0
47.2
133.0
15.9
(8.2)
134.8
69.5
25%
53.7

304.1
219.1
72.0%
72.5
45.7
151.1
17.0
(6.9)
143.1
77.5
25%
60.5

322.0
231.9
72.0%
78.9
49.7
158.4
18.0
(5.6)
150.0
81.7
25%
63.7

337.1
242.8
72.0%
93.8
59.1
155.2
18.9
(4.3)
155.5
82.0
24%
63.2

349.6
251.9
72.0%
100.3
63.2
158.6
19.6
(3.1)
159.6
84.8
24%
65.3

359.6
259.0
72.0%
102.7
64.7
164.2
20.1
(1.9)
162.3
88.6
25%
68.5

w dilution
10.32%
$344
2.0%
$1,086
$603

10.32%
$266
2.0%
$840
$466

Enterprise value
Less: Net Debt / (Add: Net Cash)
Equity value
Diluted shares:

$947
($345)
$1,292
55.0

$732
($345)
$1,078
55.3

Price Target

$23.49

$19.49

Current share price (as of 11/14/2014):

Potential upside

$13.01
81%

$13.01
50%

Key Catalysts
Catalyst #1: RPX still has room to grow its core
business and increase its rates. At 10% of the patent
market currently, RPX has an unmatched data advantage
that it is currently giving away for free to its clients. It
has helped negotiate roughly 20% of their clients
litigation expense with annual fees materially lower
than that figure. We believe there will come a point
where RPX dramatically increases its rate card and can
then buy up a large portion of the overall patent market,
solidifying their status as the clearing house through
which companies clear all patent risk.

Catalyst #2 Insurance takes off: While RPX has less than 50 current insurance clients, the company
estimates that the potential market could be thousands of clients. Moreover, as it stands, RPX is planning
on only taking 30% of the risk and reinsuring the rest (to three different willing reinsurance partners,
which should give an indication about the viability of the product). Since RPX has an unmatched data
advantage and can preemptively buy potential threatening patents before they can strike, RPX may take
on a larger portion of the risk (and therefore larger profits), over time.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 27

Prior to attending Stern, Raphael spent four years at Societe Generale, HSBC and
Allianz, specializing on asset-liability management, financial controlling and internal
investment. He most recently interned with VMware focusing on financial investments.
Raphael graduated in 2009 from ISG Business School in Paris with a Master in
Management and a focus in Finance. He passed the three levels of the CFA Curriculum.
Raphael can be reached at raphael.charbit@stern.nyu.edu.

Raphael Charbit

BUY LVMH (MC: FP) Trading at a 26% discount to a SOTP Valuation

Current Price / Mkt Cap (12/17/14): EUR125.85 / EUR 64B
Time Horizon: 1 year
Price Target: EUR 170
Potential Upside: ~35%
Primary Valuation: Sum-of-the-parts and DCF
Summary: The leader in an attractive luxury industry is trading at a meaningful discount of 26%, with
significant catalysts to assist in repricing of the stock.
A Successful and Complex Company:
LVMH is a public company that owns a portfolio of 60 Maisons, or brands. Some of those brands
have existed for several centuries. LVMH has five divisions: Leather and Fashion (51% of operating
income), Wines and Spirits (22%), Perfumes and Cosmetics (7%), Selective Retailing (15%), and
Watches and Jewelry (6%). In addition LVMH has many hidden assets, such as the 23.2% of Hermes
shares that it owned and distributed on December 17, 2014. To illustrate this example, the market
didnt factor in the value of Hermes shares until the distribution was actually announced, and the
stock went up by 1.9% above the index, 1.4% on the day of the distribution and 2.8% in between,
while the market went down by 6.1% during this period. Another hidden asset is its ownership
interest (80%) in Marc Jacobs. Though it is difficult to determine precisely, it could be valued at as
much as 4 billion euros (8 euros/share). The flotation will probably release value to LVMHs
shareholders, in the same way that the Hermes distribution did.

Over the last 20 years, LVMH has experienced revenue growth at a 12% CAGR. Over the past 10 years
its EBITDA margin has ranged from 21% to 28%. During each crisis, LVMH has been able to increase
its market share due to the appeal of classic brands during crisis and the responsiveness of
management to seize opportunities.

The CEO of the company, Bernard Arnaud, together with his family, controls 48% of LVMH shares and
64% of the voting rights. However, the CEO has always been shareholder friendly the Hermes
distribution and a consistent increase of the dividend over time (went from 0.95 Euro to 3.10 Euro
over the last 10 years, or a CAGR of 14%) are two strong examples. Bernard Arnault also has strong
incentives to be shareholder friendly, including preserving his ability to acquire new businesses
through exchange of shares like he did with the Bulgari family in 2011 (luxury companies have tax
bases close to zero so as an acquirer it is beneficial to have stock to offer as opposed to cash).

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 28

Due to its complexity, many sell side analysts do not fully appreciate the underlying value across all of
LVMH. For example, some consider that it is an underperforming company because its ROE is lower
than that of Prada or Hermes without considering the amount of equity invested or investigating the
cause such as the consolidation methods.

Opportunity:
LVMH (revenue TTM EUR29.5B, EV/EBIT TTM 13.2x, enterprise value EUR 77.8B) is an excellent
company and the leader in an appealing industry. It is currently trading at an attractive price. LVMH is
able to generate considerable free cash flows while fueling strong growth. LVMHs maisons comprise
many successful businesses including Louis Vuitton the biggest cash generator among Fashion brands.
Valuation:
Sum-of-the-parts: LVMH is expected to deliver higher growth than its peers but is trading at a 26%
discount comparatively. To prepare the sum of the parts, I used multiple peers specific to each business
and I adjusted the multiple based on characteristics of those companies (including growth, margins, and
risk) versus the ones of LVMHs businesses (using linear regressions among other tools).

Historical ratios: Excluding the 2008/2009 period,

LVMHs ratios (EV/EBITDA, EV/EBIT, and P/E) are at
relative lows (Today: EV/EBITDA 11x, EV/EBIT 13x, and
P/E 19x, while the average over the last 15 years was: EV/EBITDA 13x, EV/EBIT 17x, and P/E 30x).
DCF: Using the luxury market size from Bain, BCG and BNPP through 2020, growth equal to euro inflation
after 2024, a small drop in market share, a drop in the ROIC over time and a slight increase in the cost of
capital, the value per share after the Hermes distribution would be 224.34 euros, implying a 44%
discount.
Overall, I have a price target of 170 euros in one year. The art collection and the effects of the
probable flotation of Marc Jacobs are not factored in the price target to stay on the conservative side.
Relevant questions raised:
Has LVMH always traded at a discount relative to its peers?
No, this is new. 10 years ago, it was trading at a premium of 33% over a basket of six comparable stocks.
Today it is trading at a discount of 25%. There is no valid reason for this change in perception by the
market: analysts expected LVMH to grow organically at a faster rate than the market and to deliver a
higher free cash flow per share while supporting lower risks than its peers.
Is the discount due to the fact that the CEO has a strong control over the company?
No, the control is the same today as it was 10 years ago. Moreover, many companies in this sector are
family-controlled. In fact, the size and the visibility of LVMH give me more comfort regarding the

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 29

governance. Finally, LVMH has a history of shareholder friendly actions (mostly raising dividends) and
the incentive to be friendly is more important today.
Why is the ROIC of LVMH lower than many peers (15% vs. peer average of 19%)? Isnt this a sign
of an inferior company?
The headline ROIC of LVMH (12%) has often been computed by simply adding the equity, the debt, and
subtracting the cash, but without subtracting the fair value of Hermes shares that is not an operating
asset and therefore brings in no operating income Hermes shares are accounted as AFS and therefore
impact the equity.
A lower ROIC does not mean that LVMH is inferior. Firstly, LVMH has deployed the most capital (27
billion euros) in this sector with a ROIC of 15%, well above the cost of capital. Secondly, a large part of
the accounting assets come from acquisitions: goodwill and intangibles account for 21 billion euros the
average CROIC of all the LVMHs businesses a better base to compare - is 70% which is more than
almost any company in the sector.
So what is the market missing?
The market focuses on Louis Vuitton and probably does not like the complexity of LVMH.
The Wines and Spirits division is overlooked while LVMH controls almost 20% of the land of
Champagne through ownership and long-term contracts and while LVMH possesses, among other
things, 216 million bottles of premium wines and champagne aging.
The ROIC is poorly computed and poorly understood.
The possible flotation of Marc Jacobs and the value of the art collection are ignored.
Catalysts:
The Hermes distribution is an excellent catalyst: it releases value to the investor while LVMH is
undervalued, it simplifies the company, and it will also improve the headline ROIC.
LVMH is also preparing the flotation of Marc Jacobs shares. While there is no date set, it may
happen within the next year. The effect would be to release value to shareholders from the
discounted LVMH. Considering the market appetite for Michael Kors and the strong growth of
Marc Jacobs, the timing may add additional value to LVMH shareholders. Finally, the remaining
brands of LVMH will be more focused towards real luxury and the market may reward this
refocusing.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 30

Troy Green is a second year MBA at NYU stern. This past summer Troy worked at Claar
Advisors LLC, a long/short value+catalyst, event driven hedge fund. Prior to Stern, he
founded Green Oak Investments a long/short equity fund. Troy managed the portfolio of
Green Oak for 6 years earning an average annual return of 24%. He holds a BS in
Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and he can be reached at
troy.green@stern.nyu.edu.
Troy Green

SELL Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) Business Decline + Merger Short

Current Price / Mkt Cap (12/05/14): $110.78 / $3.5B
Price Target: $83-$95
Potential Upside: 17% - 33%
Time Horizon: 6 months
Primary Valuation: EV/EBITDA, Sum-of-the-Parts
Summary: I recommend a sell or short on ATK given the current market valuation. Considering the
cyclical decline of the sporting and defense business segments, which make up over 70% of revenues and
of EBIT, the future risk/reward does not warrant making an investment within the next 6 months, and
there are several catalysts to further support a precipitous decline.
Overview: ATK was formed from the spin-off of three Honeywell businesses in 1990. The business
operates in 3 segments. The aerospace division develops rocket motor systems for launch vehicles,
satellites, military defense, and other applications. They also produce composite frames for Airbus and
other wide body jetliners. The Defense segment develops military ammunition, gun systems, and rocket
motors. The Sporting segment produces ammunition, weapons, and accessories for commercial use.
ATKs largest customers include NASA, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin. Revenues are split 47% in
commercial and foreign customers, and 53% from US Government customers. Revenues and EBIT are
split between segments by: Sporting (40%/45%), Defense (33%/28%), and Aerospace (24%/24%).
Thesis #1: A return to non-war defense
spending and lower margins. 53% of the
business is concentrated on government
contracts. This poses a very high correlation
to the US defense spending budget. The chart
shows US Defense spending trends for the
past 13 years. For FY15 and beyond, the DOD
has downward adjusted its budget projections
towards a non-war, normalcy level. Recent
(FY2015Q2) results show 3.4% growth, and 8.6% profit loss (10.3% EBIT margin). Next, I
trust in my model. In projecting FY2016
forward, I have maintained the lower margin,
and held top line revenue projections to grow
at 3%, which is also aligned with the FYDPs projections for DOD spending growth.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 31

Thesis #2: An imminent cyclical downturn in

the sporting/ammunition business. As stated
above, the sporting business represents 40% of
revenues and 45% of EBIT. The NICS background
checks chart shown in Figure 1 is the most reliable
indicator of future demand for arms and
ammunition. Figure 1 shows the peak in organic
growth in March 2014, and leading indicators of an
imminent downside. Although some decorative
financial engineering will spin-off this business in a
100% tax-free distribution to shareholders by 2QCY2015, the cyclical high was reached a year ago,
and all the leading indicators (and actual results) demonstrate that we are in the early stages of a
downturn. Without precise clarity on the peak to trough of this imminent downward cycle, why would
one invest into a company speeding down a slippery slope?
Thesis #3: Deal or no Deal: Lack
Valuation w/ Merger
of near-term convincing upside
Sporting
in ATK-ORB merger. Since the
5.5x
6.0x
7.0x
8.0x
9.0x
merger was announced on April 29,
6.0x
$79.54
$84.25
$93.67
$103.09
$112.51
2014, shares of ATK traded
7.0x
$89.79
$94.50
$103.92
$113.34
$122.76
upwards of $156, but settled ATK/ORB
8.0x
$100.04
$104.75
$114.17
$123.59
$133.01
9.0x
$110.29
$115.00
$124.42
$133.84
$143.26
around the $130s. After the ORB
10.0x
$120.54
$125.25
$134.67
$144.09
$153.51
space ship explosion on 10/28/14,
shares have dropped to its levels of
Sporting
11/2013. This market seems to
5.5x
6.0x
7.0x
8.0x
9.0x
6.0x
-30%
-26%
-17%
-9%
-1%
have discounted the future growth
7.0x
-21%
-17%
-8%
0%
8%
prospects of the company, or ATK/ORB
8.0x
-12%
-8%
1%
9%
17%
removed this merger deal as a
9.0x
-3%
1%
10%
18%
26%
possibility.
I believe that the
10.0x
6%
10%
19%
27%
35%
merger will finalize, but the
Highest probability scenarios
proposed ~$300M in merger
synergies will take a longer
timeframe to materialize (2018 vs. est. 2016), and discounting will continue to reflect this reality. To
back up my thesis with data, I have broken out detailed forward estimates into a SOTP sensitivity table
based on a broad set of comps.
Valuation: Although I think ATK and ORB both have very good businesses
with long-term growth potential, I think that my points above clarify the
very near-term catalyst for the industry in the next 6-12 months that will
trigger a drop in the share price. Based on my estimates, with and without a
merger, I value shares between $80-$124, which is a risk/reward of
(38%)/12%. Due to recent headwinds with the space ship explosion and
other macro/micro factors stated previously, my estimate for a merged
company of $620M CY2015 EBITDA is near the lower end of the streets

Division

Mean
Multiple

#
of
Comps

Sporting

6.4x

Defense

8.2x

Aerospace

8.3x

10

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 32

projections. Overall, I understand the long-term benefits of the ATK-ORB merger, but in doing my
analysis I found my short thesis overwhelmingly compelling. I find that I would rather pick up a knife on
the floor than catch it while its falling.
Investment Risks:
A sudden and unforeseen increase in DOD spending for war or increased terrorist activity could
catalyze ATKs defense segments revenues to increase dramatically.
A quick rebound in ammunition consumption combined with market share gains in the sporting
business
No further market response to declining sporting & defense segments
Hard Short Catalysts
The realization of negative leading indicators from the expected lagging data of consumer ammo
consumption and firearm usage
Future bad quarterly performance. Sporting and Defense segments make up over 70% of revenues
and EBIT, and a deeper decline in either of these already declining industries will drive down ATKs
valuation
A slowdown in NASA spending and international growth. NASA spending has declined as a % of
the federal budget consistently since 1991, and 5 yr. forward projections show flat 0%-1% growth
Macro: 53% of revenues concentrated on a tapering US Gov. spending budget. Future
announcements of government defense spending cuts could catalyze price drops
Future launch failures from ORB, or negative news concerning a slowdown in new or existing
contracts
Forward Revenue/EBIT drivers
These estimates show my projections and drivers
for revenue and EBITDA, and this is where I differ
from the street consensus. I also utilized these
estimates in my SOTP valuation. I show a 6%
drop in the sporting segment due to the points
articulated above, and optimistically rebounding
back to the 5% average CAGR by 2017. In
addition, I have margins shrinking to 13%
because competitors have started price-cutting
and reducing inventory levels via sales. Although
Bushnell and other legacy brands maintain a
strong market share, ultimately their products are
commodities, so there will be margin pressure in
future years. I projected aerospace to be the
strongest division due to international growth,
and the strong clarity in future earnings due to
continuing contracts with Boeing, and other
internationals. I held defense growth at a modest
3% with margins decreasing 30 bps then ramping
back up to 10.5%.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 33

Owens Huang received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from National Taiwan University in 2006.
Prior to attending Stern, Owens worked as an investment commissioner at Taiwan
Insurance Guaranty Fund, managing the $10 billion portfolio of an insolvent life
insurance company. While at Stern, he won the Fortress Challenge, a national portfolio
management competition sponsored by Fortress Investment Group. He generated an
alpha of 20% and Sharpe ratio of 2.5% over the six-month period, investing in U.S. stocks
with a long-short strategy. Owens can be reached at owens.huang@stern.nyu.edu.
Owens Huang

Macro Trade Idea:

Indian Rupee Its Time to Reverse, Time to Carry Trade
The Rupee has depreciated for 67 years, from $1 to Rs 1 in 1947 to the peak $1 to Rs 68.8 on August
2013, and now is $1 to Rs 63.6. However, I believe that the trend line has hit its inflection point. Once the
Rupee has established a trading range, the carry trade would be very attractive as the yield is more than
8%. Thus, I am going to discuss the three major factors of Rupee performance:
1.
2.
3.

Current account deficit

Government deficit
Inflation rate

Current Account Deficit:

Indias current account deficit narrowed to a
fresh four-year low as gold imports cooled
down. The current account deficit was $7.8
billion, 1.7% on Q2 FY2014, and increased to
$10.1 billion, 2.1% on Q3. The total current
account deficit in FY2013 was $88.2bn, 4.8% of
GDP. This deficit was driven by several factors,
but gold imports played an important role, at
$53.8bn around 10.5% of total imports. This
extreme phenomenon rose from the Indian
preference on gold for wealth preservation,
compared to bank deposits or insurance. Most people in India
think gold is the best inflation hedge available. To restrict this
unhealthy gold addiction, the Government launched several
measures to limit gold imports. For example, the import duty
on gold jewelry was raised to 15% from 10%.
I expect India will henceforth import less gold, in terms of
percentage of GDP. Followed by cheaper global oil and
commodity prices, the difficulties with the current account
deficit are cooling down. Thus, the current account deficit will
lower to 2%, a number in line with Bloomberg consensus.

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 34

Fiscal Deficit:
The Government of India expects the budget deficit to decrease to 4.1% in FY 2015. I believe the Modi
government is able to achieve this goal, as the new government would lower both interest payments and
subsidies for food, fuel and fertilizer as inflation declines. Interest payments account for 3.4% of GDP in
FY 2014 and subsidies account for 2.3% of GDP. As inflation decreases, all these burdens will decline as
well. Moreover, the Government plans to divest many state-own companies and projects. The Ministry of
Finance even has a Department of Disinvestment 1 to execute the process. This certainly will rebuild the
government budget to a healthier position.
Inflation:
The worst of inflation has passed. Based on the forecast of the
Reserve Bank of India, inflation will go down sharply to 8% in
the second half of 2014, compared to 10% in 2013. Due to the
cheaper global oil price, I believe the inflation will go even lower.
Historically, the wholesale price index (WPI) has been the
central measure of inflation in India. However, the RBI
announced in 2013 that they would start to use the consumer
price index (CPI). This change will make the inflation index less
volatile.
The composition of CPI includes 34% for Food, mostly cereals
and products. I checked the grain stocks with the Food
Corporation of India (FCI): the numbers show that current rice
and wheat inventory are at 55mn tons: the record high is close to
60mn tons (2013). The inflation rate during last summer was
7.96%, and remained at higher levels due to a steep rise in
vegetable prices. However, this problem is dissipating due to the
late rainfall in August. With the disappearance of drought as a
concern, I believe the food inflation problems have been cooling
down.
Conclusion:
As the price of oil is trading lower, India will be the biggest
winner. $10/bbl decline in Brent oil price will increase India GDP
growth by 0.2% and decrease inflation rate by 0.4%. Moreover,
current account deficit would decline 0.4% and fiscal deficit
0.2%.2
The trend of Rupee depreciation is reversing due to lower
budget and current account deficits, coupled with lower
inflation. The Modi government is expected to reaccelerate
Indias economy with a business-orientated management; lower
oil price would be a great catalyst in near term. In the coming
years, buying the Rupee and selling the Japanese Yen or Euro
will be one of the most popular carry trades.
1 http://www.divest.nic.in
2 Source: Goldman Sachs

Dec. 2014

EVALUATION

Page 35

EVALUATION GET INVOLVED!

This is just the third issue of EVALUATION, but going forward we aim to grow and cultivate the
publication, with a goal of putting out one newsletter per academic semester. Our mission is two-fold, (1)
to broadly spread awareness of research and investing to interested parties and (2) to foster a greater
connection between NYU students and alumni in the investment community. On that front, if you would
like to get involved, or provide us with feedback, please dont hesitate to reach out. In addition, if you
would like to be added to our newsletter e-distribution list going forward, please send us your contact
information. Thanks for reading!
Visit our student club affiliation, Stern Investment Management & Research Society, on the web:
http://nyustern.campusgroups.com/simr/home/
Connect with SIMR students/alums on LinkedIn!
Stern Investment Management & Research Society (SIMR) Alumni

Fall 2014 Editors

Bryce is a second year MBA student at NYU Stern. This past summer he interned at
Numina Capital Management, an event-driven hedge fund in NYC. As a generalist on the
investment team, he performed research and valuation analysis on companies across a
variety of industries. Prior to attending Stern, Bryce spent four years at Gramercy
Property Trust in real estate investments, both debt and equity. Prior to Gramercy, Bryce
worked in the real estate ratings group at Moody's Investors Service. Bryce received a
B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and is a CFA Charterholder.
Bryce Webster
bryce.webster@stern.nyu.edu
Ethan is a first year MBA student at NYU Stern specializing in Finance and Accounting.
Ethan is currently pursuing a summer internship as an equity research associate. Prior
to Stern, Ethan was a decorated member of the U.S. Air Force, where he served for six
years. His most notable role was as a Satellite Operations Analyst, in which he
safeguarded multibillion-dollar satellite constellations, while leading a five-member
team in a top-secret security setting. Ethan earned his Bachelor of Business
Administration from the University of Vermont, holds a Masters of Science in Financial
Analysis from the University of San Francisco, and is a CFA Level II Candidate.

Ethan C. Ellison
ece252@stern.nyu.edu